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Introduction

In The Shadow of Fuji

June 21 - October 27, 1985

The Fugaku Sanju Rokkei (Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji), justifiably became the most admired work of the Japanese woodblock print master Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Published in the early 1830s, it was the culmination of a painstaking study of this sacred Japanese volcano from virtually every angle, in all seasons, and at many different times of the day. Sometimes Mt. Fuji dominates the print while at other times it is itself dwarfed by another force of nature, such as the famous "Great Wave" of Kanagawa. In other cases a distant Mt. Fuji presides benevolently over activities in Edo, th emodern city of Tokyo. In Hokusai's skilled hands, the powers of nature and the presence of man are brought together in a brilliant evocation of the Japanese landscape. In Hokusai's Fugaku Sanju-Rokkei, a print artist exhibited for the first time full control over this subject matter with techniques indebted to both Eastern and Western art. In fact, this period might well be considered the heydey of the Japanese landscape print, for 1883 also saw the publication of Hiroshige's equally famous Tokaido gojusan-tsugi (Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido). As well as a selection of works from the original Fugaku Sanju-Rokkei, this exhibition features two of the ten later supplementary prints known as the Ura-Fuji (Fuji from the Other Side). Together they present a unique view of this dormant volcano that has become a symbol of the Japanese nation. Seldom has any mountain been studied so sensitively and revealed in so encompassing a manner.

Selected Objects

Katsushika Hokusai

Ejiri, Suruga Province (Shunshu ejiri), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Surugadai in the Eastern Capital (Tōto Sundai), ca. 1830-1831

Katsushika Hokusai

Mishima Pass, Kai Province (Koshu mishimagoe), late 1700s-mid 1800s

Katsushika Hokusai

Under Mannen Bridge, Fukagawa [Edo] (Fukagawa mannenbashi no shita), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Viewing Sunset over Ryōgoku Bridge from the Ommaya Embankment (Onmayagashi yori Ryōgokubashi no sekiyō o miru), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Inume Pass, Kai Province (Koshu inumetoge), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Hakone Lake in Sagami Province (Soshu Hakone no kosui), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Umezawa manor, Sagami Province (Soshu umezawa zai), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

At sea off Kazusa (Kazusa no kairo), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Mount Fuji from Goten-yama at Shinagawa on the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō Shinagawa Goten-yama no Fuji ), ca. 1830-1831

Katsushika Hokusai

Nihonbashi, Edo (Edo nihonbashi), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

The Mitsui shop, Suruga Edo (Edo suruga-chō Mitsui-mise ryakuzu), ca. 1830-1831

Katsushika Hokusai

Fine wind, clear weather (Gaifū kaisei), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Under the Great Wave, off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

The "Cushion Pine" at Aoyama [Edo] (Aoyama enza no matsu), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

The seven-ri beach, Suruga Province (Soshu shichirigahama), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

The Coast of Nobuto, Shimosa Province (Nobotu ura), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Lower Meguro (Shima meguro), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

The temple Honganji, Asakusa, in the eastern capital (Toto asakusa honganji), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Fuji behind Minobu River (Minobugawa ura fuji), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Lake Suwa, Shinano Province (Shinshu suwako), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Hodogaya on the Tokaido (Tokaido hodogaya), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Kajikazawa in Kai Province (Koshu kajikazawa), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Sekiya village on the Sumida River (Sumidagawa sekiya no sato), ca. 1829-1833

Katsushika Hokusai

Senju in Musashi Province (Bushu senju), ca. 1829-1833

More objects +

RISD Museum

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